You are here

Interac No More

Sun, 09/26/2010 - 23:24 — Shawn

As of October 1st, Interac will cease to exist, being bought out by Advantage Partners. This comes from the General Union, which cites an August 24 official government gazette containing the notice of the buyout. More about the buyout can be found on ESL Cafe and Hoofin's blog.

According to the GU's post, Interac and its owner, Selnate, will merge with Alphis (president: Josh Porter). The same Josh Porter is also president of AP18 (Advantage Partnets), which will assume the legal rights and duties of the deal.

The GU then wonders what will happen to Interac's ALTs.

Will ALTs keep their jobs?

With the dissolution of Interac and new management under Advantage Partners and the new company formed in Interac's wake, honor existing ALT contracts?

If contracts are unilaterally canceled, will they be deemed terminated or defaulted by Interac?

If no bidding is made for ALT contracts after October, isn't it against the law to hand those contracts over to an unrelated company?

Will Interac's employment contracts and license as a dispatch company still remain valid?

If it's past has finally caught up with it, dissolving the company and re-emerging under a new name looks like a way to dodge any legal and financial obligations. Unfortunately, it leaves the teachers working there in limbo.

Comments

I suffered under the yoke of that company, dreading the phone call on my days off with yet more bad news, always in fear for my job safety. To hear the company is going under makes me happy. I am going to have a little party on October 1st and will drink to their demise.

Part of the problem is the way the system is set up. They hire anyone with a pulse. If they want to clean things up, they should hire teachers with relevant qualifications, rather than relying on people with absolutely no idea about, or experience of, teaching at all.

Qualified teachers would make all the difference, and are far better than unqualified ones. The only place for the unqualified idiots is in dead-end careers like eikaiwa, bartending/waitering and the like, or other loser industries, like the charity industry for example.

I think the general rule of thumb now should be that if you take one of these Eikaiwa / ALT jobs in Japan it's absolutely essential to have a plan B ready to action at a moments notice. Otherwise you're gonna end up getting completely shafted.

I agree. They are not going to do that for the simple reason that most qualified teachers wouldn't dream of sacrificing their careers for the sake of a couple of years 'overseas experience'. Only people who had reasons other than professional would even think of coming out here to work.

HAHAHHAAH LMAO. Thats what you guys get for going to Japan and working as an English monkey. Now Go back home and get a real job. Oh wait you can't because you have zero qualifications, no relevant job experience, and no possible job prospects in recession ridden economies.

there are monkeys and humans in any profession, but many ALTs are in fact teachers, who care about the kids and actually do teach them real English, in spite of the horrible contracts with lack of benefits/security/paid leave etc. celebrate the demise of a dodgy company which perhaps could lead to better government responsibility and better working conditions for teachers (not holding my breath, but...). don't celebrate as if every single one of these teachers are freeloaders who deserve to be booted out - really, most of them don't.

Earlier this month, I wrote a message in the ‘Interac-shin’ newsletter announcing that
the Selnate Group was re-organizing into a new group under the Interac name. This
change will be effective October 1, 2010.

Unfortunately, comments have been made on the forums of some well-known websites
this weekend suggesting that Interac may be in financial difficulty or be going bankrupt.
I am deeply concerned that such rumors may cause you worry and stress. So, let me
categorically state that Interac is financially stable and in absolutely NO danger of
going bankrupt. I would like to put an end to such rumors here and now. Nor will the
re-organization have any impact on your jobs or working conditions.

It appears that the cause of such rumors was a legal notice placed by us in the
Government’s Official Gazette on August 24 2010 announcing that Interac would
dissolve on October 1.

This is technically true. Part of the re-organization involves consolidation. Selnate
Group companies will be consolidated into one big organization. One of our other
group companies AP 18 will assimilate the others as New Interac with the old Interac
dissolving. Under Japanese law the new group will simply take over all elements of the
previous companies.

In practice nothing will change. For example, the same executive and management
team will continue and your contracts and employment status will simply role into the
new company. You remain as Interac employees. Also, the re-organization will in no way
affect the existing contracts with our clients. All our clients are aware of the change and
understand it.

The other question that has been raised is in regard to the ownership of the Selnate
Group. At the beginning of this year the previous main shareholder retired from the
group management. At that time, and after careful consideration and consultation with
the executive board members, the board approved changing the main shareholder of the
Selnate Group to a long-term investment fund managed by Advantage Partners.

As a company Advantage Partners is the largest in its field in Japan with an
outstanding reputation for the support that it provides to its portfolio companies.

Its own philosophy is to contribute to society by teaming up with good, profitable
organizations that they believe they can assist to grow and become stronger. We all
believed that Advantage Partners philosophy fits well with our own and is in an ideal
position to help Interac maintain and strengthen its current business and seek new
areas of opportunity in the future. Indeed, we are already seeing the benefits of the
fresh perspective and management support that they provide.

Since we are unlisted, we have never made the names of its shareholders public but
since facts were falsely represented in a public forum, I decided to address this issue
with you.

Thank you and if you do have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to speak
with your management consultant.

It's amusing to read the negative comments like from anonymous @ 13.56.If that person was happy
with their life,there would be no need to be so negative with that pathetic rant. That goes for all of
you out that espousing your bitterness.

It's amusing to read the negative comments like from anonymous @ 13.56.If that person was happy
with their life,there would be no need to be so negative with that pathetic rant. That goes for all of
you out that espousing your bitterness.

Great point. Why even bother posting on this site? But wait, most of them work at places like 'Gaba' in any case.

hey does that mean we are going to get paid?
I hope you know anone who works for interac fucking hates interac and they only work there because they can't find anything better and you have to deal with morons like that on a daily basis.

I think it's over-simplifying to say that Interac teachers all hate the company, or that Interac teachers are unqualified, or that they only work there because they can't get other jobs.

For some people, yes, maybe that's true. But not for everybody.

I have a TESOL certificate and I am about halfway done with a masters course in TESOL. Not to brag, but I think I am a very capable, enthusiastic, experienced, and qualified teacher. And I'm not the only one who fits this description who works for Interac.

I'm with Interac at the time being because they were the only ones who could place me in the part of Japan where I wanted to live. Working in this part of Japan meant working for Interac. That's primarily why I am with them.

I am set up in a nice situation. My teaching schedule is ridiculously light on most days. My accommodation is dirt-cheap. There are some things about my contract that I wish were different -- but I knew about those things when I signed up.

And because I'm not an ALT who is directly employed by the BOE, I am not at the BOE's beck and call. I don't have to attend, uncompensated, every little PTA event and undokai and every other thing that BOEs require of their directly-hired ALTs, which is what I've heard is often the case. Just looking around, it seems like I actually have more free time than the directly-hired ALTs I know.

I suspect that many foreign teachers in Japan dislike companies such as Interac, simply because they are private, for-profit companies. For some people, "profit" is such a dirty word. Well, in the real world, guys, profits actually make the economic wheels spin. They really make the world go round. Just because an organization runs on a profit basis doesn't automatically mean it's bad.

Trust me, not all Interac teachers are unhappy. And not all of us are with Interac out of desperation because we can't find jobs elsewhere. I've had several good jobs in my life, both within English-teaching and in other lines of work.

I don't plan to work for Interac for the rest of my life, but it meets my needs at the moment, and they have treated me very fairly. In return, I have done the best job I can for them and for the BOE that Interac has placed me with.

I'm sure that not all Interac teachers have had the same mostly-positive experience that I have had. That's true of any large employer. Just remember though, the "gripers" and "whingers" are the ones who generally post comments on Internet forums. The people who are generally happy with their jobs (and there are many) generally don't frequent sites like this. That's my hunch, anyway.

Just don't base your opinions of Interac -- or anything in life, for that matter -- on a few anonymous comments that you read on an Internet forum. That's all I'm saying.

For profit companies go bankrupt quite often.
They aren't always bailed out and given a fresh start with tax-payer money.
That's why people are worried about this.
However, with GEOS and Nova living on through G.Comm, who know what could happen.

Advantage Partners does have a strong group of companies in its portfolio.
If Interac is in trouble, this is the best solution right now.

Still, the timing of this is very odd, in light of the ban that was placed on them in Osaka.

All well and good, your personal situation is your own. Lots of people had a great time at NOVA, did their jobs well and made a good impression on the people they taught. But all along Nova was lying, deceiving and cheating people out of large sums of money, and eventually got found out.

Similarly, just because you're having a great time in Japan and happen to be working for Interac is separate from, and indeed doesn't excuse Interac from, for example, having illegal dispatch contracts and being banned from bidding for contracts in Osaka prefecture. Or the Mike Dillon case (see Debito Arudou's website). That's a sign of serious problems and corruption amongst management.

Enjoy your time at Interac by all means, but be aware of the facts about the company.

I understand what you're saying. I was mostly responding to the person who basically said that everyone who works for Interac hates it.

Are these dispatch contracts really illegal? If so, why are government bodies (local boards of ed) all over Japan entering into them? I'm not going to believe these contracts are illegal simply because some "union" says they are.

Are these dispatch contracts really illegal? If so, why are government bodies (local boards of ed) all over Japan entering into them? I'm not going to believe these contracts are illegal simply because some "union" says they are.

Well they've been banned in Osaka so it goes beyond Union gripes. Obviously the prefectural government also thought that what Interac was doing was wrong.

As for the Mike Dillon case, I'd advise anybody working for Interac to read it, just to show how the stupidity of their management, and the whole "dispensible ALT" mentality, can impact upon people.

There you go with another bizarre rant that no one is going to read. Sometimes I just think it's the same weirdo posting this tedious North America drivel over and over again.

Since you mentioned another blog, how about taking your oddball mental problems to over there instead of boring us to death over here? The funny thing is that you seem to think you're actually achieving something with these bizarre antics.

So, let me categorically state that Interac is financially stable and in absolutely NO danger of going bankrupt. I would like to put an end to such rumors here and now. Nor will the re-organization have any impact on your jobs or working conditions.

I think there has been some confusion about what happened with Interac in Osaka.

"banned from bidding for contracts in Osaka prefecture" (kind of true)
"they've been banned in Osaka" (not correct)

Here is what happened: Interac refused to negotiate with the General Union representing some Interac employees.

Is this illegal? No. Companies cannot stop their employees from unionizing and the cannot fire someone for being a member of the union, but they are not required to negotiate with the union, just as companies are not required to negotiate with their employees individually.

Under internal administrative rules that apply only to Osaka Prefectural government agencies, these agencies cannot engage companies that refuse to negotiate with unions. Interac is not banned from doing business with Osaka Prefecture. The opposite is true. The Osaka prefectural government is not allowed to hire them. Interac can still be hired by the national government, city governments and private companies in Osaka. They have done nothing illegal and are not banned from doing business in Osaka.

The following people, who worked for, or worked for Intereac are scumbags...Denis Cusack, Kerry Dickson, Stephen Madsen, Brian Mcdonell, Andrew Tetlow, Racist Mr. Shibutani, and Crazy Ms. Luna. I hope you all rot in HELL!

Then I read that only the Osaka Prefectural Government (due to internal rules) cannot do business with Interac -- but that city governments in the prefecture, national government bodies in the prefecture, and private companies in the prefecture CAN do business with Interac.

Who's telling the truth?

If the second one is true ... well, that is not even CLOSE to being "banned in Osaka," now is it?

And I don't have to ask if it's illegal under Japanese law for a company to refuse to negotiate with a union. I already know it isn't.

How can you "ban" a company? That's the kind of thing that happens to terrorist or gangster organizations, not companies. I would have thought it fairly obvious that that statement's referring to the ban on bidding for contracts in Osaka Prefecture, which has been reported on the General Union website:

This issue seems to have suddenly created a severe mental headache for some people. Perhaps people should do some proper research about these things and report back with findings, and list their sources for those findings.

Also, I'm open to hearing criticism of what's said on that Union page (just so you know I'm not pushing the "Union agenda"), again, with properly-source information backing up what you're saying.

And I don't have to ask if it's illegal under Japanese law for a company to refuse to negotiate with a union. I already know it isn't.

Well according to the GU article:

Interac has been found guilty of unfair labour practices by the Osaka Prefectural Labour Commission in July 2010 for refusing to hold collective bargaining with the General Union

Whether or not it's Japanese law, or Osaka Prefectural law, the Osaka Labor Commission has decided that refusing to negotiate with the Union is an "unfair labor practice", and as a result, Interac can no longer bid for contracts in Osaka Prefecture.

Osaka Prefecture has now informed all divisions of the prefectural government, including the Osaka Prefectural Board of Education, that they may no longer enter into contracts with Interac

As they've informed all divisions of the Prefectural Govt, and the Prefectural BoE, not to enter into contracts with Interac, does that mean they can enter into contracts with City Govts in Osaka?

I wish those losers that do nothing but moan would go back to school themselves. And what exactly does; "get a real job" mean?
Teaching is a job! Go back to school. No one says you have to like it, but it is a job!

Oh boo hoo Soon Hee! I wonder why so many people hate interac? Hmm? You know why? Let me tell you why. Because they are a shit awful, exploitative, son of a bitch of a company, who the moment you turn your back, have their filthy perverted, bum fingering mitts, into your purse. They are universally hated, because they are a bunch of low life scumbags. They will NOT be missed. Piss on their grave.

Unfair labor practice or not, it is not ILLEGAL for Interac to refuse to deal with unions.

You are trying to rebut an argument that I never actually made. The fact that the anti-Interac crowd frequently seems to resort to this sort of word-twisting is pretty telling.

I wasn't trying to rebut your argument though, I was just trying to get to the facts and clear up what was clearly bothering some people, that is that Interac was engaged in "unfair labour practices". So what if it's legal, it doesn't make it right.

It's telling how the pro-Interac crowd always resort to word-twisting when someone criticizes Interac. They'd rather not face the facts about their company.

My experience with Interac was that they treat you like a "dispensible item". Little if any consideration is given to your feelings or personal situation (except in the first year perhaps, when they're very concerned about people quitting mid-contract, which annoys the BoE, which in turn might lose Interac the contract). They changed and shortened contracts, cancelled my guarantorship at very short notice when I quit, and my health insurance. It's very unprofessional behaviour, and unbecoming of "the largest ALT dispatch provider in Japan".

Notice how GU involvement/"victories" tend have a very high correlation with the collapse of language schools? is the GU a virulent infection that takes out healthy companies or are they only able to gain "victories" once the school/company is weak and feeble? In other words, monitor the GU site for "victories" and then short that company because they are already on the way out? Hyenas on the savanna picking of the sick and the weak? I am sure they have more noble fantasies, but then any self-congratulatory group of losers does...

Unfair labor practices like Interac refusing collective bargaining with a union is illegal, Soonhee. If you want to look it up Interac violated Article 7 of the Trade Union Act. Because Interac was found guilty of unfair labor practices and Osaka Prefecture has a rule on not doing business with companies found guilty of unfair labor practices is why they can no longer bid on contracts with the Osaka Prefectural Government.

I would not be surprised if Interac is soon banned from other jurisdictions with similar rules. Since Interac\\\'s main business is with local government boards of education, they\\\'re going to see a lot of their current business dry up next year.

When we heard what was in the complete ruling I wouldn\\\'t be surprised if Interac was ordered by the court to publicly apologize. It\\\'s one of the usual remedies that labor commissions order in cases like this.

Let's have some real information. Stop the pissing and get on with it. Dish the dirt on your colleagues and earn a bonus. Call up your manager and turn in the pot smokers. Be the informal eyes and ears of your employer and rat out your friends. Go out for a beer with your mates, then be the first to run back to HQ with all the yummy gossip. Imagine you will be a social climber and among the Japanese and ingratiate yourself by feeding them juicy tidbits about other outsiders. Too many rats in the cage. You can all go eat each other alive. Let it all come crashing down.

Come now... why did interac get tossed out of Kumamoto? How did interac get thrown out of Saga after the FIRST TRIMESTER this year!? What changed when interac picked up Kitakyushu? Even though the alt's went to work for interac in the same schools, their benefits were cut and their salaries went down. So KBS lost Kurume to interac. Now instead of getting a percentage of their health insurance paid, the alt's get nothing.

Owls, KBS, interac... When these companies are swapped by the Boards of Education the only thing that changes are the benefits and salaries. They go down. Even the Japanese managers get picked up by the new dispatch company. The Japanese managers should be named by name and I just may do that in a future post. Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss. Take a wider, more global view and you'll see it's a fixed game.

I just figured out who you are! I remember you in training and how pissed off you were at the whole world because you couldn't adapt to Japanese life. I thought to myself, "why is this guy even in Japan?". You are the same guy that has tried time and time again to sledge these individuals, but that is because you threatened violence on staff members and eventually, your contract was not renewed. I believe you went to an eikaiwa only to be mentioned in the news for punching someone at work. Who is the scumbag here? I personally enjoyed the honesty and care that Denis, Kerry, Stephen, and Andy gave me during my time with Interac. Like another poster mentioned, it is only those with no real life that keep posting the same shit over and over on these blogs.

If the above is true, Interac are the real goons for hiring someone like that in the first place. ALT dispatch and eikaiwa have a policy of hiring "anyone with a pulse", satisfying the lowest common denominator and no more. This is what happens when you take a sloppy approach to recruitment as they do. Interac just bring this sort of thing on themselves.

I understand you. I know Interac, have worked for Owls and KBS. Its all problems. In those areas you are working like Kumamoto, Saga, Fukuoka, Kurume, Kitakyushu the conditions are pretty bad. KBS is paying ALTs as little as 215k, no transportation, no shakai. But they do pay into unemployment insurance. If you are working in any of these places for any of the notorious Three, please strongly consider joining the Fukuoka General Union. As I understand, all Three of them have serious arbritation sessions with the Fukuoka General Union. I dont think its your attitude or failure to adapt to JApan. I think you are being screwed over. Dont let some asskissing former coworker make it seem that something is wrong with you. Something is seriously wrong with the system. Once he get dressed and out bed with Andy, Denis, Steve and Kerry, I will realize how sore his lips and rear are and realize, they are using people to just throw them away.

Fighting for my profession. English teaching is honorable to fight for.

Tell me what you know about Interac getting thrown out of Saga after the first trimester. If thats true, that pretty significant knews. Id love to know the details. Maybe this city is good candidate to vow to make this the last year of dispatch.

If this is even true (a big "if," given the "accuracy" of comments made on Internet forums like this), then I am sure it only applies to real unions. Not the "union" set up by that bunch of rabble-rousers known as the "General Union" or the "Interac Union."

Come on -- Interac needs to have a license or permit of some sort to do the kind of business it does. How on earth could they keep that license or permit, if they were so blatantly breaking a law requiring them to do collective-bargaining with a union?

The law will catch up with your scurrilous law breaking sons of bitches of directors, despite your name change. Of course they paid you, idiot. They collected your salary from the BOE’s, gave it a savage and illegal hair cut (as usual), and then gave a mere fraction of it to you. You essentially allow them to take a massive commission from your pay cheque, month in, month out, as well as robbing you of your legal entitlements, stuffing their filthy pockets all the while, and that makes you a dumb ass dick head. When Nova was on the way out, people like you, still sung their praises, same with GEOS, same with all the scum language operations in Japan, which have been falling like dominos. You are just another wanker, who will soon be standing in the wind, with nothing more than his dick in his hands, and egg all over his face. I would pity you, but I have seen your kind so many times before, my pity tank is empty. The only thing that enters my head, reading your drivel, is "dumb ass".

Because your beloved company deserves every bit of shit it gets. It is a notorious, horrible, horrible place, hated by the majority of people who have had any contact with it whatsoever. Cheaters, liars, stealers. Ok, so you won't be standing there with just your dick in your hands, but instead, you will be standing there with you hands covering your crutch, your tits flopping in the wind, and egg all over your face. Happy now?

Are you saying, INTERAC'S modus operandi is not “We will make our margin by looking at what the BOE’s must legally pay the instructors if they hire them directly, and give that “must legally pay” aspect an illegal whopping trimming?”

Are you saying that INTERAC does not take the risk of illegal practice off the shoulders of the BOE’s, and makes a margin from it?

Soon Hee, you don't know what you're talking about, any more than the posters you bash for giving "inaccurate information" and are making things up as you go. As you said, you can't rely on forums like these for the "be all and end all" of information.

What I DO know, as I said above, is that Interac has been found guilty of unfair labor practices by the Osaka Prefectural Govt, and as a result, can no longer enter into contracts with them (I don't know for how long).

You made some inaccurate comments about the General Union. It's a recognized Union, affiliated with Zenrokyo, one of the three main confederations of Unions in Japan (and no, I'm NOT in the Union, nor do I support what it does very much).

Also, with regard to what the above poster said about lower wages, I saw that happen in the city I worked in a few years ago. Interac actually reduced the wages down to around 200k a month, with no transportation. It may not go on across the board all of the time, but as soon as Interac need to save themselves a quick buck, they'll do it without any qualms, and YOU'LL be the one suffering it, I can guarantee you of that.

I'd advise you to be aware of the FACTS before you start inaccurately making out that "everything's fine with Interac".

There is a thread on the regular LJ websites called "yes, Japanese companies do monitor". Well I know for a fact that Kerry Dicksuck, Denis Cusack and the rest of the garbage monitor this site, searching for the truth about Interac. Then they try to diffuse the truth however they can, usually by discrediting the person who wrote the post. I know because I have seen them doing it myself. And Shawn, and Chris are accomplices because every timeI have posted about it, they delete it. That is why you shoud not see this site as being a disseminator of the truth, or a site which is looking out for the best interest of the little guy. Now they will delete this post because it has the truth in it about them.

The above comment is just made by an Interac propagandist. There is no truth to it. Hard to believe that a gaijin punching his asshole boss would make the news. It is just propaganda created by the Interac propaganda machine...Kery Dickson, Denis Cusack and etc. They have been doing it for years, even before scumbagsinjapan.com exposed them, and they used their lawyers to bully the activists trying to expose them, they have been monitoring the web for any trace of the truth.

There was a similarly troll-like character to Soon Hee on another forum, called Licorice, who engaged in the same tactic of trying to discredit the person posting the negative Interac comments.

On ExPat Japan, a poster was, quite rightly under the circumstances, exercising their right to free speech by expressing the opinion that Interac might be bankrupt. That led to this "Licorice" character accusing him of causing "worry" and "stress" for "thousands of Interac teachers". If you have a look on those forums, you'll see who I mean, there are some even more hilariously immature comments coming from them.

I think there's a strong possibility that they're posting from Interac HQ.

So, I have been following the news that broke on the Osaka Union website that stated Interac was dissolving and made claims that all of the teachers contracts would be null and void, all of the contracts with the BOEs would also be null and void, and all of this was to go down on Oct. 1st (their words, not mine). They clearly state in Japanese on their website that Interac would be no more.

The gazette piece simply stated that several companies would be consolidated into one, which is exactly what happened. I just opened Interac's web page and they have an announcement that states Advantage Partners took over the company at the beginning of the year. It looks as if all they did was take the other companies and roll them into one. A far cry from what the Union posted.

The Union's unsubstantiated bit of news went viral with everyone and his dog picking up on it and posting without really finding out if the source was legit.

Well it is now Tuesday morning, and my friends that work for Interac are still in their positions, just got paid last week, and it looks like business as usual.

Basically, the union lied to us. Their BS was just that, BS. Next time, instead of taking a small bit of truth and then extrapolating a huge yarn that is full of lies, why don't you just report it how it is Union? Osaka still has teachers that are teaching in the city and work for Interac, yet your website states they are banned? Is this just another lie?

You have just lost all credibility in my book. Shame on your for being so misleading.

It seems that Interac is not going under (for the moment) if you look at the post with the letter from Interac's manager. And I'm sure everyone is thinking and saying, "That's what (Nova/GEOS/other bankrupt eikaiwa company) said and look what happened to them." Sure. But if Interac did go under, rather than the confusion and panic from teachers, school boards, and schools about whether or not these ALTs had jobs or not, I would hope that the school boards would man up and hire the ALTs directly (in some places it might happen, in others not).

Also, I wish people would cite their sources of information in places where they haven't. What's this about Nova, Geos and GComm? Where did you get the info? It's not that hard to type in "According to (source), " at the beginning of these posts.

Wait a minute, a poster who was a couple back tried to insinuate that Osaka General Union said something false about Interac, and then Shawn picked that up.

If anyone looked at what the GU had posted, they clearly were focusing on the reorganization (which was: true), and the union's concerns that their recent victories in court (preventing future contracts being made in Osaka) would be washed away. They were also worried that current employees could lose positions, since this has happened in Japan during re-orgs. (In fact, it happens quite frequently to gaikokujin during reorgs.)

Shawn blogged that "Interac [was] no more". And technically, that's true--even the company puts this on the website. Interac is now really a different corporation, owned by Advantage Partners.

The talk about financial troubles all came from other sectors of the internet. Had anyone checked my blog, at this post, they would have found out that I was incredulous. It's hard to believe a big dispatch company could have financial woes. This kind of dispatch is a big cash-cow for companies operating in the shadows, away from their home governments and country's media.

So, please, please. Enough of the recriminations when it's clear that solid information could be provided from credible sources at the outset. GU had legitimate concerns; Shawn is an ethical blogger who is pointing out others' statements.

Hoofin, I stand corrected. You were the only one though that offered some critical thinking about the matter. And I was not faulting Shawn either. He has a great blog and I have come to really enjoy it over the years starting back in 2001. Having said this, most of the other blog sites just did a cut and paste of the story.

I am not an Interac ALT anymore but I did work for them from 2002 until 2005. Some of the branches had less than honorable sales people, but for the most part, it was a good company to work for. I only had to pay 5,000JPY/month for my insurance which covered me 100%. This is why I wonder what the Union is doing by trying to force people to get on Shakai Hoken which will cost an ALT making 250,000 around 30,000JPY a month. That is A LOT of money when you are only on 250,000, but the Union doesn't tell the kiddies this side of the story.

I am not trying to prop up either side of the debate, but I call a spade a spade and the Union did assume the worst when reading the gazette article. They went on to say everything was going to collapse which is simply not true. They should recant their remarks if they are to gain any kind of credibility with future teachers moving here.

You on the other hand actually hit it on the head before more information was forthcoming from Interac. I have just read your post so I must not include you or Shawn when talking about the other blog sites that simply posted what had previously been written.

Thanks for your compliment. It's not that I wish Interac well or bad either way. It's a mystery how anyone gets hired by them; and yet they have somebody there who routinely enjoys reading the Hoofin blog. Go figure!

AS far as GU and Shakai, nothing is going to change until the embassies sit down with the Japanese Labor Ministry and say, "look it, you've got to certify that our citizens are being covered on an equal basis with the Japanese, like the treaties say." Once that happens, all the ALT contract bidding will have to include a base of money that includes Shakai. What I have found blogging about the issue over the past several years is that expats here object more to the unfairness of being squeezed, forced to shop for cheap coverage (or forced into it like Nova), and denied a pension than if they were provided this as a part of the compensation. It's about the take-home pay. You see this, right?

GU does its own thing, and they want to toot their horns when they have a victory. Good for them. I think the feeling was that the Interac reorg was going to undermine something they had accomplished for their members from Interac.

Generally, Japanese companies and citizens get the opportunity to mutually cooperate in the avoidance of Shakai obligations in the case of part time work through a range of non enforcement policies. It would follow therefore, that those companies employing foriegn citizens as part time labour should have much the same rights - which they do.

Whatever the merits of the union's claims, if Interac had to go to all that amount of trouble on account of their activities then I would say that they did a good job and should carry on getting stuck into Interac or whatever they like to call themselves next at every opportunity. Good score.

Exactly. Why is Interac feeling so threatened at the moment? Anyone would think they have had their pants pulled down, in public. Honestly, the way they are reacting, among other things, through various stooges in here, anyone would think they had a giant boil on their rear end, which they don't want anyone to see. Too late INTERCRACK....your ass is very, very, very, very stinky and dirty......and covered in boils.............a public menace, in fact.

A bit more on the Shakai Hoken thing with Interac. When I worked for them, at orientation, they advised people not to get it because they'd be paying a much larger premium each month (something like Y30k per month, as opposed to Y5k with Interglobal). What they failed to mention was that Interac pay half that premium. They also failed to mention that you're legally required to enrol in either SH or Kokumin. And another thing is that, if you decide to swap over to Kokumin (and I presume SH), you'd get stung for a whole load of back-payments.

Interac, NOVA and the other eikaiwa/dispatch companies don't tell you the full facts about your health insurance options and obligations, in order to save themselves money. That's deceitful and wrong.

At my orientation they didn't even mention the existence of Shakai Hoken. They told us our two choices were a private scheme they were introducing (Interglobal I assume.) and Kokumin Kenko Hoken. They really are a dirty company.

You mean Kerry (the fairy) Dickson? The pock-marked face little faggot who usually talked shit about every single person who did not happen to be standing there to defend themselves? You mean that little cowardly backstabber? Yeah, he was a fiendish little twerp, mad at the world and taking revenge on the world with his job. He loved to go on these overseas trips to recruit people. Thing is, with the thousands of dollars he spent on those trips, could they have affored to give a few teachers a raise? Or, how about the salaries of ALL the Japanese staff that were made on the backs of a gaijin?

If you just want to talk about the shakai, the whole thing wraps up into the totalization treaties. The Japanese Labor Ministry hasn't considered the fact that the government already agreed to cover expats per the actual rules in Japanese law and regulations. The GU has not pressed the issue with the respective embassies (Canada, U.S. and Australia), because some of the GU membership (UK for example) do not feel they benefit from the shakai. (Their arrangement with Japan is something different So they feel this justifies their jamming it up for everyone else. No wonder the U.S. kicked King George out; and if it wasn't for us, they'd all be speaking German now. But I digress.)

What makes the Interac reorg interesting, is that by any reasonable legal argument, that company has a big back-due shakai hoken bill. So if you sell the company, who is responsible in the event the Japanese finally decided to honor a treaty and collect the back premiums? Who pays? Old cashed-out Interac? Or Advantage Partners?

Any good acquisition lawyer worth his/her salt would have made sure that that potential liability was either factored into the price as disclosed, or left with the party who was being bought out.

If the GU were smart, they would press that issue: is the new company going to pay up on the 2 years' (or more) of shakai payments that weren't made?

The treaties all say that expats will be given "equal treatment" with the Japanese for participation and benefits. Clearly, this does not mean that if some Japanese cheat on the system, or get screwed out of it, then it's O.K. if the same thing happens to foreigners. It means that whatever the black letter law is about coverage, then this is what Japan is treaty bound to follow.

See, if America were nasty like the Chinese government can be when it's pissed off, we would just hide the Seventh Fleet (a Pacific naval fleet) over in the Atlantic Ocean whenever Japan started to screw with treaties. But that's not us---we have class.

It will be interesting to see how New Interac handles the shakai hoken issue.

Like many interested in this story I worked for Interac too. It was short term but I thought the conditions were appalling, and the admin staff beyond decietful and manipulative. The staff I saw hired when I started up were barely conversant in English. It was unbelievable. The materials were awful. The bureaucratic micromanaging was simply stupid and controlling. The whole time there from start to finish was a dreadful experience. I fear that Interac will merely morph into a new Frankestein with new management. I really hope they shake off the dead managers and put together a REAL program that kids can learn from in school. They did not deserve Interac, and they need something better.